Trip to Mitake-san

Yesterday myself and two friends, Jana and Phillipe, made a trip to Mt. Mitake - or Mitake-san as the Japanese tend to call their mountains - for a day of hiking high in the mountains and deep in the valleys.

We met in Kokubunji station at 9 am sharp, and headed east by train to the small, quiet, secluded area of Mitake. Mitake-san is located in the Chichibu-Tama-Kai National Park, which covers more than 1250 square kilometers of pure bush. I was amazed at how, within 45 minutes, you are transported by train into rural towns, surrounded by mountains, and you can even catch glimpses of people kayaking in the rivers. It is really a different world compared to the neon chaos of downtown Tokyo.

The first step of our journey was taking the cable car up a very steep slope which, according to the guide book, climbs 420 metres in 6 minutes at a gradient of 47%!




At the top, there were, of course, some tourist traps with lots of little goodies for sale, such as this lovely hat.




Or for the very hungry, there were roasting dango - a sort of sticky ball made from rice flour that is very tasty when roasted on an open flame.




Say cheese!!! Yay! I got to be the cable car driver.




After all that horsing around, we were ready to get our butts up the mountain and start the real hike.



First we had to walk through the Mitake town, which was a really, reaaaally small little village with a few shops for tourists and a handful of restaurants. Most of the houses were old fashioned, many made from wood.



We also came across an example of small town life - the trust system.



You will see this is a road-side vegetable stand, but if you look in the top right corner you will see a box. This is where you put the money when you buy something. In rural areas - and even in some places in my own town - you will see this trust system in place.

According to my guide book, Mitake-san has been a popular site for mountain worship for about 2,000 years. Indeed, there were many, many shrines around, such as this one (sorry I didn't get the name).



In the town, we saw a building called 'Oshijutaju' - a ceremonial lodging house for pilgrims going up into the mountains to worship at the Mitake Shrine. The thatched roof was incredible. Unfortunately, the sign did not say how old this house was, but I've never seen a house like this in Japan until now.




After checking out the shrine, we were off again and up the mountain. The trails were very clean and easily marked in both Japanese and English (thank god) so it was really very nice. Further up the trail we came across the most famous shrine in Mitake, the Musashi Mitake Jinga Shrine.



According to the guide book, this particular mountain is considered sacred, so many ascetics would make a pilgrimage to Mitake-san to do rigorous religious training. Indeed there were people of all ages climbing the mountain to this shrine to pray. Below is a view of Tokyo, with fortunes tied onto the wire outside the shrine.



Shortly after that, we decided to stop for a bit at a picnic site and have a bite to eat. Phillipe was kind enough to bring fresh French bread and liver pate direct from France (can you tell he is French?), Jana brought the cheese, and I brought some inari - rice stuffed into these sweet tofu sleeves. The only thing missing was a bottle of wine! During lunch it was so cold and windy it actually began to snow - the only snow I've seen all winter in Tokyo!

After our break, it was back on the path, and deeper into the mountains.



Jana gives this tree a nice hug, saying it was perfect for 'yasumi' - rest! And here is another view from the trail.




Our next destination was Nanayo no Taki, a small waterfall. It was really quite small but the pool would have been nice for a quick dip, if it wasn't freezing! Below, Phillipe ponders his deepest thoughts.



Then it was back on the trail, which got quite steep actually, and higher into the mountain through a long stone trail called the Rock Gardens.



The Rock Gardens led us to the next stop - the Ayahiro no Taki, another small waterfall, but this one was complete with tori , the gate that marks the entrance to a shrine.



Apparently in the summer time, people come to Ayahiro to worship at this small wooden shrine, and sit under the waterfall to cleanse their souls. There was one man there, deep in prayer, and we tried not to disturb him.

After Ayahiro, we had the choice to either head back to the Mitake town, or to keep going, so with Jana the Map Master leading the way, we decided to climb to Mt. Nabewari. Climbing up the steep trail made me realize how out of shape I am, because I was huffing and puffing and easily out of breath. Not good!

But it was worth it when we got to the top, and stood there at an altitude of 1084 metres, and looked down on the world below, feeling the cold wind blowing on our faces, surrounded by nothing but mile after mile after mile or virgin forest. We found a small mountain shrine and decided to take a rest there and eat some cookies.



You will see that in this shrine someone has put a small bottle of sake as an offering, and many people have put coins too. The five cent coin with the hole in the middle is especially auspicious, but I didn't have one, so had to settle for a one cent offering to the mountain gods.

By then it was getting late, and we had been hiking for about six hours and soon it would be getting dark. So back down the mountain we went, from Mt Nabewari to Mitake-san again, and into the Mitake town for some rest and a cold beer in a tiny izakaya run by an old woman whose back was so badly bend her body resembled a question mark.

After we rested our weary feet, we walked back through the town, hopped onto the cable car, got on the bus, got on the train, and instantly fell asleep on our way home.

All in all, the hike was fantastic, very very enjoyable, good exercise, and with lots of different attractions... waterfalls, rivers, rock gardens, 1000-year-old trees, shrines, temples... the only thing I am disappointed about is that we didn't get to see the famous Flying Squirrels that apparently live in the forests! Maybe next time we will be so lucky.